Earn More, Work Less: 8 Great Jobs that Escape the Rat Race

by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger


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Yoga teacher and self-titled "Life Stylist" Sadie Nardini advises her clients, "Think huge-small and medium have a lot of competition." That's just what she did when she went from being a broke, harried studio yoga teacher to harnessing technology, streamlining her workload, and earning in a day what she used to make in a week. In 2010, she put in the hours she wanted and netted close to $300,000.

Nardini got her start as a yoga teacher moonlighting after her day job in cubicle land. Eventually, she got fed up with laboring long days for little money doing office work and decided to teach full time. Soon enough, she was teaching 25 classes a week and feeling just as burnt out as before. "I love the scene in 'Finding Nemo' where he swims into the current with the sea turtles and speeds effortlessly toward his goal," she says. "I asked myself, 'How can I be more passive and less active income-wise?'"

Nardini posted free online videos to gain a wider audience. Now she has 25,000 subscribers on YouTube and 40,000 Facebook followers. She started selling DVDs and teaching at large conferences instead of small classes. She branched out into wellness counseling and life coaching. On a practical level, she set up automatic responses on her website and outsourced all of her administrative work.

Nardini says that fear gets in the way of people actually doing something instead of just talking about it. "People
Sadie Nardini

often have skills that they doubt anyone will care about. I advised a friend who loved making bracelets to sell them on Etsy. A magazine featured her work and within a month she had earned more money from her bracelets than she had made in a year working an office job."

Here are seven more jobs that offer flexibility, fun, and a good wage:

1 - Massage Therapist
According to the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), the majority of massage therapists work under 27 hours a week. Massage therapist Jenny Adams, who has practiced in Pennsylvania for 20 years, describes the benefits of her career: "I get to wear comfy clothes, set my own hours, and work with wonderful people. Most days I see three to four clients which leaves me plenty of time for other things."
Gyms, doctor's offices, sports teams, and spas all employ massage therapists. Some massage therapists are self-employed and travel to people's homes.

Background requirements:
• 300 to 1000 in-class hours (varies state to state). See the AMTA website for info.
• National certification exam for therapeutic massage and bodywork.
• Some states require additional certification.

Earning potential: $60 to $100 per hour


2 - Technical Writer

Are you the only one of your friends who actually reads the manual before powering up a new electronic device? If you are a clear communicator with a good head for technology, you might want to consider a pursuing a career in technical writing-according to the Bureau of Labor Statics, the field is expected to grow by 18 percent between now and 2018. Technical writers translate technical information supplied by experts into easily understandable language for everyday consumers. They usually work for computer systems and software companies, but could also be employed by engineering or architectural firms or in the medical industry. Many are freelance.

Background requirements:

• Most Technical writers hold a Bachelor's degree in English, Communications, or Journalism.
• Being comfortable working with computer systems is a must and desktop publishing and multimedia software experience is also helpful.

Earning potential: $40 to $75 per hour


3 - Make-up artist

Being a make-up artist involves more than just helping people look pretty. Some create detailed prosthetics for film and television. Top fashion and celebrity make-up artists such as Bobbie Brown have created their own multi-million dollar cosmetics lines.

Background requirements:
There are no specific requirements for becoming a make-up artist, but you can take courses at a school such as Make-up Designory (MUD), which has campuses in Los Angeles and New York City. Some budding make-up artists get their start by working at a department store cosmetics counter or volunteering to do make-up for local theater productions.

Earning potential: Entry level make-up artists earn about $15 per hour, but a Hollywood makeup artist who works on successful films can earn a upwards of a million dollars a year.

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The Best Jobs In America

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You might think that determining what makes a job "great" is pretty easy, but the truth is there are so many factors that could play a role - from exceptional rates of pay, to superior growth prospects, to employee perks and benefits - that finding one definition often isn't as easy as it might first appear.

In fact, while for many workers the paycheck is the be all and end all, for others a sense that the work they are doing is more "meaningful" holds the key to job satisfaction.

And that's before you factor in issues pertaining to how organizations can match the needs of different generations of employees, a common challenge for HR managers.

Take a look at Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies To Work For list for 2009, for instance, which demonstrates how, even in this economy, some companies are going out of their way to please employees:
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Internet giant Google, for example, once revered as way out in front in terms of employee satisfaction, has now slipped considerably to fourth place this year - despite still attracting over 777,000 applications each year. Meanwhile, in its place, data management firm NatApp has been catapulted to the top spot, offering such benefits as five paid days for volunteer work, $11,390 adoption aid, and autism coverage - used by 43 employees since 2006 ,at a cost of $242,452.

But aside from individual companies looking to bolster their satisfaction credentials, there are some jobs that simply far outpace others in terms of "greatness." Some because of the paychecks they offer, others because of the long-term prospects they bring to workers, but all of them noteworthy.

And now, with the help of Payscale.com, CNN Money has rated and compiled a list of the Top 50 Jobs in the US - and you've guessed it, they all offer great pay and even better prospects.

The top end of the list is largely populated by roles in both the information technology (IT) and healthcare sectors, which are obviously determined after considerable investment from workers in terms of training and experience; but other roles, both in the financial services and government sectors also feature prominently, highlighting that there is room for true satisfaction in a plethora of fields.

At the top of the list the authors place the role of System Engineer - defined by CNN as the "big think managers on large, complex projects." According to the findings behind the list, demand is soaring for systems engineers, as what was once a niche job in the aerospace and defense industries has now become (or is becoming) commonplace among a diverse and expanding universe of employers.

The good news? Pay can easily reach six figures for top performers, and CNN highlights how there - even in this economy - remains ample opportunity for advancement.

Something else to make readers smile is that fact that, ranking pretty highly at twentieth on the list, is the role of Human Resources Manager, suggesting that HR's diversified role and transformation from a largely administrative role to a more strategic business player hasn't gone unnoticed. As CNN themselves put it, do HR Managers have great jobs or what?

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